Imported cement to be tested before sale in Mozambique

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Imported cement to be tested before sale in Mozambique

11:39 CAT | 30 May 2017

Noticias (File photo)

Imported cement is now subject to tests to assess its quality, before being released onto the domestic market. At present, only cement produced in Mozambique is tested for certification purposes.

The government has now approved a new regulation which stipulates that imported cement must be subject to the same procedures, beginning with the collection of samples for specialised laboratory analysis.

The decree, which entered into force at the beginning of this year, deals with the production, transport, marketing and guarantee of cement quality in Mozambique, with a view to ensuring the quality of cement available in the domestic market.

“For this to happen, all importers have to inform the National Institute for Standardization and Quality (INNOQ) of the country from which they wish to import the cement. INNOQ should contact the certification body of that country,” INNOQ director general Alfredo Sitoe explained.

Speaking at a seminar in Maputo this week to discuss the implementation of the new regulation, Sitoe explained that the procedure is designed to allow INNOQ to guarantee that the certification body is credible. This does not however mean that the product will not be tested in Mozambique, he stressed.

The National Inspection of Economic Activities (INAE) spoke at the seminar of the need to comply with the requirements of the regulation, at the risk of the handling of cement harming people, and the product not having the required quality.

“If the plants do not meet these requirements, we will have problems with the environment. Poor handling of the cement can lead to diseases such as tuberculosis. Cement bags produce a lot of dust. Imagine how people and homes get when cars are loaded with poorly protected cement. There is a need to meet these requirements,” AIM news agency quotes the INAE’s Virginia Muianga as saying.

Muianga said that cement had hitherto been transported and marketed in unsatisfactory conditions in Mozambique, pointing out as an example that it was sometimes sold in tents. “That must stop, because cement loses quality from the action of winds and heat, and this is reflected later in the works executed,” he said.

The meeting was attended by producers, importers, INNOQ, INAE and the Mozambique Laboratory of Engineering (LEM), which will conduct the mandatory tests.

Source: Noticias